Local author combines fun and facts in her children’s book

By Joan Janzen

DODSLAND - Ashley McLean from Plenty has been busy. Just a few months ago, she was promoting her first book of fiction for adults, and now this mother of three young children is following up with her children’s book Maxwell’s Marvelous Space Adventure. The idea of writing a children’s book began when her young nephew saw his auntie’s adult novel and asked, “Can you write a book I can read?”

Ashley McLean shared her children’s book Maxwell’s Marvelous Space Adventure at the Dodsland Library on June 12th. PHOTO COURTESY DODSLAND LIBRARY

“If I can get my nephew to read anything, I will do it,” Ashley said. “One of my kid’s obsessions is a stuffed monkey, and my other kid is curious about space.” Ashley’s book combines her children’s favourite things.

“They both have a favourite page,” she said. “Now some friends have purchased it, and they tell me about their kid’s favourite page.”

Each page features a different planet, and the back page includes a glossary with basic facts about all the planets. The end result is a book that is both fun and factual. Now Ashley’s nephew and children aged two and older are joining Maxwell as he sings with sea stars, bounces on Mercury’s craters, swings on Saturn’s rings and rides across Pluto on a space dog.

This new author has been busy sharing her book at the Luseland, Kerrobert and Dodsland libraries at local author events and will be at the Plenty Church basement signing copies on June 18th. She’ll also be promoting her book at Cutknife later in June, and then the young mom plans to take a break.

“It was a passion project. Now I’m taking a long break,” she concluded. However, Ashley’s children continue to hear their mothers’ stories as they’re snuggled in their beds. “Sometimes I’ll ramble a story from my head, usually about their day, and make it more extraordinary.”

Children also love her book, which makes the ordinary extraordinary.